You have to make the sawboard first.
For many years I used a conventional plane, then bought a B&D power variety and never looked back until the armature burnt out on that and the second one was stolen.
As you imply, I don't recall the very first time I used one, but was probably very careful taking just very thin cuts. I feel you have more control than the hand planer.
10 mins max, cost about £3.
I don't even have a sawboard. Quite often I just pin something straight to the workpiece. A couple of pinholes mostly don't notice on a door.
What is important to me is my spacer jig, a scrap of hardboard the width of which is precisely the distance from the saw base to the teeth. That way I just mark the workpiece in the normal way, slap the jig down and fix the guide to the other side of that.
No you don't. All you need is a straight edge and a couple of clamps. The sort of things I'd expect any DIYer to have.
Exactly what I did the few times I had to trim doors. Offset to the blade being the important thing to get correct.
Yeah, but it's a faff measuring etc ... A saw board is not difficult to make and prevents expensive mistakes.
A circular saw is perhaps something not in everyone?s tools arsenal as it seems liable to remove fingers, torsos, heads and feet. However getting over that, ye'll find it an amazing tool in recycling every bit of discarded plank of wood into a smaller useful plank. I have cut many shelves and boxed up pipework with mine.
An electric planner for me would not take many trips outside the storage box, but probably something I might invest in if I had requirements other than reshaping doors.
I love circular saws, one of the most useful power tools there is.
My circ gets used 30 time more often than my planer.
Does your glue work that fast? Even for you 10 mins is optimistic. I could plane the bottom of a door quicker. Also I can't by any suitable sheet timber locally for £3.
I'm not saying the sawboard isn't the best way, just that it's not always the most convenient for a one-off job.
I use Gripfil and screws.
Two of my local merchants have offcut bins. That's where I get the timber for mine.
True, but if you have a circular saw you should have a sawboard.
Are you new to uk.d-i-y? ;-)
Agreed . . .
and agreed, but you may need a couple, and then there's storing them. I haven't got round to making a saw board up, but have found the Lidl aluminium 1.5ish metre one pretty useful.
The cordless circular saw I bought recently has been a revelation - quick clean cuts every time and easy to use. The £15 Aldi mains one is a pig by comparison.
I've got one but haven't got the hang of it yet - I find it difficult to take off an even amount.
I think the essential truth is that a circular saw needs to run against a guide, whether that's a sawboard or a lump of something you happen to have lying around. Using it without is what makes it difficult and dangerous. If someone hadn't shown me the technique 50 years ago, I would probably still be hesitant about using one.
Everyone will have different requirements, but here I use a circular saw many many more times than a planer. Used properly for most things it gives a cut which doesn't require planing - just a quick rub with a sandpaper block if needed.
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